The use of timers, primarily for "time-out" discipline with children is documented in early childhood books and articles. See, E. R. Christopherson, Little People: A Commonsense Guide to Child Rearing (3rd ed.) pp. 157-154, Westport Publishers, Inc., Kansas City (1988). Timers are used in the home, in the class room and child care settings. Timers can be used for marking time intervals for changes in activities, for example teaching children to share possessions, marking time until the lights are turned out at bedtime, watching television, or length of time necessary for brushing teeth.
While very young children (18 months to pre-school) do not understand or conceptualize time, they are beginning to learn about time. They learn to take turns and to wait for an event to begin or end, and they may have a "time-out" for inappropriate behavior. Forewarning a child about transitions in activities makes for an easier adjustment, cooperation and fewer arguments.
Most commonly the adult tells the child the timer will be set and uses the timer on the kitchen range or microwave. In such circumstances there is generally very little involvement of the child. If the child is of pre-school age she/he is too young to read or understand numbers and she/he must wait for either a buzzer to sound or for the parent to tell the child when the time is up.
What is needed is a child timer that can involve the child more in the timing process. It would be helpful to use a timer that is specifically designed for a child. It would be preferred if the timer could be operated by the child as well as the adult. The timer should have a timing indicator which provides a graphic measure of time and helps impart to the child the concept of the decreasing interval of time as the end of the timed event is approached. A timer for a pre-school child should have age appropriate timing intervals. In most circumstances age-appropriate timer intervals for a pre-schooler would be 2, 5, 10 or 15 minutes. It would also be preferred if the timer would also graphically illustrate for the child the activity being timed or for which the child is waiting.
Animated tooth brushing timers have been previously described. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,926,487 and 3,021,666. These devices are, however, single event timers which are useful primarily for entertaining the child. Such timers do not provide a graphic measure of time for the child nor may they be effectively used for purposes other than tooth brushing.
The child timer of the present invention, satisfies the deficiencies of the above referenced timers. In addition the timer of the present invention satisfies a long felt need for a child timer which is simple for the child to use and understand while it helps the child grasp the difficult concept of time.